You Can Do Better Than Me
by CrushingPride
Summary: Beck and Jade are stuck in an elevator after getting into one of their usual arguments.


**DISCLAIMER: **_** Two things, 1) I do not own Victorious; 2) I do not own Death Cab for Cutie's "You Can Do Better Than Me"**_

_Just wrote this random one-shot. Once more if characters seem to be OOC, oops, I apologize. I tried and I managed to scrape up this so I'm happy. Enjoy! And oh, yeah, REVIEW! I could use it!_

Seventeen year old Beck Oliver glanced upwards with a small scowl as he held the store's exit door open for his black-clad girlfriend, "For the last time, Jade… I was not flirting with that cashier!"

Jade huffed and shoved past him with her arms crossed, her arms full of various shopping bags.

"Well for two people that weren't flirting, there was a whole lot of touching involved!" she called behind her back angrily.

Quite frankly, she couldn't take one more girl giggling and batting their eyelashes in front of her. If that happened one more goddamned time, she'd be in a prison cell. And it would totally be worth it.

The Indian boy caught up with her with a narrowed gaze. Every single time he was cheating. He'd never understand how and why.

"I had to give her the money and she had to hand me the bag!" he exclaimed with a tone that was slightly laced with annoyance.

Why is it that his girlfriend kept on pursuing the opinion of him flirting with some complete stranger? Beck Oliver wasn't the type of guy who'd flirt with another girl whilst being with one. Especially if that girl was and still is a girlfriend. And even more, if the girl was Jade West. It would be out of the question- especially since Jade was a girl of suspicion. Heck, she's the ruler of all suspicion.

"Like every other damned time." she scoffed with an eye roll, getting Beck even more exasperated than usual.

"Your insecurity is really starting to tick me off." He commented with an even tone and a glare.

Jade's head whipped instantly at the sound of those eight words. Insecure?! Her, Jade West was insecure?! Oh, Beck really did not know what he was in for now.

"Insecurity?!" she hissed before pausing her fast- paced walk to face the handsome boy with an identical glowered look. Her voice raised a tone higher with each word she let out, "Are you calling me insecure?!"

Beck looked a little uncertain of his confession. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything and kept quiet as usual. Then on the other hand, it's best she knows otherwise this process will keep on and on for forever. He was on a roll now, why stop?

"Yes- Yes! As a matter of fact, you are! You're insecure and so- so- "he paused to find the right words before he confidently nodded; inwardly propelling himself to go, "Clingy! You are so clingy! And the whole goddamned world has to revolve around you and whatever you say! This relationship's all about you!"

"Fine! Since I'm clingy and insecure and that apparently this relationship's all about me, then don't be involved in this relationship at all! It's all filled up, pretty boy!" She yelled at him, enraged that he would even say something like he had in the moment.

He was momentarily stunned by her statement before he shook it off. Jade wouldn't break up with him. She loved him too much for that. Right? He really didn't mean it. She wasn't insecure… maybe clingy and a bit self- absorbed- but not terribly that he couldn't stand it. But for a certainty, the dark- clothed girl was everything but insecure- just misunderstood. She was rather sweet at times.

The scowling Goth kicked an empty garbage can nearby into Beck's path and stomped off, leaving Beck to reconsider that last opinion.

"And immature!" he called out after her knowing that she'd turn right back around. This is how things operated with Jade. A bunch of mean -but meaningless- words would be said yet lots and plenty of making out would come afterwards.

"And you expect too damned much! I'm not fricking Vega, you know!" she retorted with a huff, her icy blue eyes daring him to lose his cool. At this point, their usual bickering had gotten to a notch higher. It was crossing dangerous territory so quickly that Beck wasn't too sure that his reward would be a lap dance from the pale girl. But he wouldn't let her bad-mouth one of his closest friends.

At the mention of Tori, Beck's facial expression grew stern, "Leave Tori out of this, Jade. She's not even involved!"

Jade looked scornful as she answered Beck, "Well one way or another, that twig will always be involved! Everyone knows you tried to lock lips with Vega!"

She turned the corner where the elevators stood and crossed her arms with her usual sullen look just as the elevator doors closed with a resounding thud with what she was sure was rude- assed people behind it, "Dumbasses."

Beck let out a sigh and another one of his classic looks of slight irritation as he stood by her, dwelling on the topic of Tori- in attempts to clear his name, "For the love of God, Jade! That was last year! I haven't done anything remotely sexual with Tori ever since!"

Jade whipped her head towards her boyfriend and met his eye gaze with fire burning in her eyes," So there were sexual things happening before?!"

Beck slapped a palm to his forehead. As usual she was taking this the wrong way!

"Oh my God! No!" Beck responded with horror before changing the topic. He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration before reaching out for the elevator bell and buzzing it frantically. The last place he wanted to be right now was here.

"Where the hell is this elevator?!" he asked with an aggravated tone. It was sure tough to keep calm in circumstances like these. He needed some air. Quick. Where was this blasted elevator?!

"Oh yeah, sure… just go on right ahead and change the topic, Beck," she murmured sarcastically with a roll of her eyes, "Like you never do any wrong…"

Beck decided to pointedly ignore his girlfriend. He looked straight ahead with a dead look as he slid his free hand that weren't holding bags into his cargo pants' pocket.

He was sick of the fighting. Nearly every time they were together- especially in public- an argument always triggers. And all of the time it initiates from Jade's jealousy. Why couldn't she be sweet every day like she is with him when they have one- on- one time in his RV?

As Beck pondered on these things and resumed ignoring his girlfriend, the elevator makes a ding, announcing its arrival. The couple entered the small elevator and Beck pressed their designated floor. The elevator began to go downwards and the two who were always normally joined at hip stood as far as they possibly could from one another.

The tension in the air was so thick, you could barely cut it with a knife. Soon there was a sudden jerk, bringing Beck to attention about their surroundings. He hoped that the elevator wouldn't do anything stupid like go back up- cause he was pretty sure that would piss of the dyed- brunette off some more. It sure as hell would piss him off. Cause he really needed to breathe.

Just to be on the safe side, he pressed the Lobby's button one more time and everything just seemed to stop right then and there.

This cannot be happening.

Overcoming his own disbelief about the situation they were now in, he managed to say, "I think we're stuck."

Jade was pointedly ignoring her boyfriend throughout this entire time. Her eyes were glued to the elevator lights above her as she was thinking of a harsh punishment for both her boyfriend and that dumbstruck happy Vega. But after hearing his statement, she scowled.

"What are you talking about? Are you just as incompetent with pressing a button just as you are when it comes to being faithful?" Jade scoffed with disdain before she uncrossed her arms, dropped her shopping bags and made her way over to the rectangular plaque on the wall that held the buttons.

She pressed all of them in an attempt, but realizes that her sardonic boyfriend was in fact right. They were- as much as she hated to admit it- stuck.

"What the hell?!" she yelled to no one in particular, "We're stuck!"

Jade quickly pressed for the alarm with one hand and banged on the elevator door with another and a kick of her foot.

Beck paced back and forth, mostly sweating like crazy but partially thinking about what the hell to do. They couldn't spend the night here, hell, he couldn't spend an hour here. He'd probably go crazy! Jade started banging harder which eventually broke his concentration and he turned to glare at her.

"I think we made that clear already!" he snapped, unable to control his anger especially with the issue they were dealing with at hand.

He knew it wasn't Jade's fault but for the love of God, he was going crazy. He shook his head and kept on walking back and forth, in attempts to keep himself calm. Beck stopped pacing after a few seconds and curled into a ball in one corner of the elevator.

Can't she stop making that damn noise?! Oh my God, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, he thought with a horror and with that he buried his head in his arms and rocked himself back and forth.

Jade, who didn't even bother to look back at her boyfriend and his current state resumed banging with an upwards look.

"Watch it, Pretty! Don't you yell at me!" Jade warned before shouting against the door, "HELP! Any of you dumbasses are out there?!"

Her yelling and the small proximity of the elevator was beginning to get him very dizzy. He sat on the floor with his legs sprawled out and his head against the elevator's walls. This was very bad. Very, very bad.

Jade quickly gave him a look, ready to chastise him for his lack of help, but her expression became one of concern when she saw him looking- looking unlike his calm self.

"What's with you?" she asked with a head nod in his direction, reminding him of the pathetic state he found himself in.

He waved it off with a limp shake of his hand, "Nothing."

She still looked a bit worried as she arched an eyebrow at this one- worded brush- off but reluctantly went back to banging. If Beck needed help, he would say he needed help. After all, he barely depended on her for anything, not that she minded that much.

"Hello?! Help!" she called out repeatedly with a kick and a bang, fully forsaking the ridiculous alarm button.

Beck started tugging on his shirt collar as his breathing became more rapid and heavy. Oh God, I can't breathe, he realized as balls of sweat started appearing all over his face. Not again. Not this again.

It all started when he was five years old. He had been playing hide and seek with his best friend at the time, Moose. Moose always had him beat when it came to the sport of hide- and- seek. But this time, Moose wouldn't win. This time Beck wouldn't hide under the bed or behind the house any longer. He had prepared for a week before the play date and found the ultimate spot. The laundry lift. He didn't try it out, why bother? It looked big enough. And finally the big day came. Moose hid first and as usual, Beck couldn't find that boy for the life of him. Eventually Moose popped out from his hiding spot; the doghouse- which Beck had to admit was classic but not as good as his. It was then his turn to hide, his turn to put Moose's record to shame. As Moose counted down, Beck ran over to his hiding spot, anticipated the moment when Moose would give up eventually and surrender to the new King of Hide- and- Go Seek. He managed to fit himself in a matter of seconds and closed the door behind him, unaware that the door only had one knob- and that was on the outside. Beck soon got himself comfortable and waited. And waited and waited. It seemed that indeed, Moose's record would get smashed soon. But Beck didn't even care about that anymore. It was dark, it was cold and it was cramped. Very, very cramped. He wanted to cry and scream but couldn't because he felt so queasy and so faint. He remembered his chest had hurt. Thankfully his mother decided to do the laundry that day, or else he could've been in there for life. But even after he got out, his chest hurt, it hurt a whole lot. The thought of being somewhere like that…

It hurts so bad… It hurts.

As his girlfriend resumed her cries for help, Beck clutched at his chest and groaned.

This groan emitting from his mouth caught the teenage girl off-guard. Mid- cry, she turned again to be met with the sight of her boyfriend holding onto his chest and slumping over to his side.

"Beck!" she cried before quickly kneeling down by Beck to pick his head from the ground. She placed his face on her lap and looked at him with a look of concern as she wiped away some beads of sweat with a wipe of her hand.

He looked so helpless, Jade could've cried. What the hell was the matter with him? One minute he's preaching to her, the next he's on the ground in her arms, like this.

Beck tried to explain to his frantic girlfriend with rushed breaths, "I can't- I can't- can't breathe…"

With shaky hands, she undid a few buttons that he had failed to unbutton and pulled out her Collector's Edition of _The Scissoring _to fan him with. He could've laughed at the fact that she carried that hideous movie everywhere she went but he was too busy trying to keep himself calm.

"Beck, you're really scaring me," she confessed as she waved the DVD in his face with fast and swift pendulum-like motions, "Seriously. What's all of this? What's wrong with you?!"

Jade didn't know what she was really more confused about. The way Beck's acting at the current moment or the idea of this whole "getting stuck" situation even happening to them! If anyone, Vega ought to get trapped in an elevator. Not her. Especially, not Beck. This kind of stuff only happens to good and stupid people. And even though Beck's a good person at heart, he's excluded since he's definitely not stupid.

There was silence for a while except for the Indian boy's heavy breathing before he confessed, unable to look into the pale girl's eyes as if embarrassed by what was going to be said. He never really told her things about him when it came to his fears and his issues. She just assumed he didn't have any and he just went along with it. Jade had other issues to deal with instead of his little silly ones. But now it wasn't so silly.

"I can't stay in tight places for long." He answered her worries with deep breaths. Not that it made anything better, "It's a phobia."

It wasn't something that happened usually, it just happened randomly whenever he was in a closed and small area with no space to breathe. In his RV, he had always left his door open a crack or if it was closed, he had always popped open a window. Jade would often question the open window various times and he had always told her that he was hot- blooded. Imagine telling a girl in the middle of a make-out session that you keep windows and doors open because in reality you'd probably faint mid- kiss and end up in a hospital bed somewhere. Yeah, that wasn't gonna happen.

Jade's facial expression looked incredulous, "You're claustrophobic?! Since when?! You live in an RV for crying out loud!"

Living in an RV was a whole different story due to the drama that occurred in the house lately. He'd rather stay in his RV instead of hearing his parents bark over one another all the time. It had nothing about his parents being carefree or him being rebellious. It's just he'd much prefer being alone at times without hearing conflict or arguments. Just peace and quiet.

Beck opened his mouth to respond, despite looking so weak and so out of sorts. Jade noting this shushed him with a hand to his mouth.

"Don't even answer that. Just- just stay calm." Jade ordered as she looks around her surroundings clueless as to what to even do. What to do when a full- on claustrophobia attack comes? She had only seen movies of instances like these happening and the remedy she saw for all instances was calmness. Not that Beck normally has a problem with being calm, but she wouldn't associate the two of them right now.

Beck nodded weakly, taking his girlfriend's advice as he tried to regain control of his breathing.

She massaged his hair and rubbed his shoulder, "You'll be okay. We'll be out of here before you know it, babe."

She gives him a gentle kiss on his forehead with a reassuring smile before she outstretches her arm and buzzes the soundless alarm like crazy. Dumb-asses. Where were these people when you really need them?!

Instantaneously, she remembers her PearPhone and her first instinct is to call Cat Valentine but come on. Cat? That would be a waste of minutes. She then decides on the second person she knew she could undoubtedly count on in circumstances as these. Andre Harris. She powers on the phone but as soon as she does it shuts down and dies.

"Oh great, just my luck." She growled before turning back towards her boyfriend on the ground, "Beck, do you have your phone?"

"It should be in my shirt pocket." He faintly said. Seeing her go crazy all of a sudden was starting to hitch his breathing back up again despite those few seconds of mellowness. He tries to reach for his shirt pockets but Jade got to it before him.

She checked his shirt pockets and even his pants pockets but the black Pear Phone was nowhere to be found. She looks at him in question and he lets out a little smile as if he remembered something.

"Oh right, I left it in my RV." He announced causing the Goth to give him a seething glare.

Jade would've screamed at her boyfriend if it weren't for his current state. She gave Beck's fluffy, perfect hair a nice pat before she banged the door and pressed the alarm to and fro like it was a drum kit.

She paused, a question that was raised in her mind made her go crazy. Why didn't she know about this? If it were Vega, she'd probably know. Cat probably would've known too. But why? Why didn't she?

"Why?" She didn't mean for that one- worded question to come out but it did anyways. So she pursued it.

"Why did you never tell me about your claustrophobia?" she asked curiously, a little hurt. Did he really have no faith in her that he couldn't confide something as serious as that to her?

The male teenager was silent as he considered what words to say before addressing the girl he loved.

"I dunno, okay? I feel as if everything I tell you would always be a lie to you." He admitted with a sigh, both of his eyes closed as if to delay an oncoming blow, "What would be the point of me saying anything? I'm Beck Oliver. I'm supposed to be the perfect, supportive boyfriend with no issues of my own. " He shook his head, his eyes still clamped shut as he rubbed his chest again with a cringe, "Look, Jade, forget it."

Jade recalled what he had said earlier, about their relationship being all about her during their blow- up a while ago. Maybe he was right. Maybe she was so consumed with herself and her problems and the idea of Beck leaving her that she never really stopped to think about what he may be going through as an individual. Let's face it, she as well as everyone else at Hollywood Arts viewed Beck Oliver as a Greek god that was absolutely perfect. She may have not ogled at him like most girls but she was just as guilty for assuming he was fine and that he would always be fine with no issues. That sucked a lot because as someone he loved, she was supposed to dig deeper past his appearance and his god-like appeal and reach the real Beck Oliver inside. He had reached the real Jade West inside of her, so what was so hard about her doing the same?

In the midst of the now uncomfortable silence, Jade started to sing softly as she ran her fingers through Beck's hair.__

I'm starting to feel  
We stay together  
Out of fear  
Of dying alone

I've been slipping through the years  
And my old clothes don't fit like  
They once did  
So they hang like ghosts  
Of the people I've been

But it's like my heart can't be tamed  
And I fall in love everyday  
And I feel like a fool

I have to face the truth  
That no one could ever look at me  
Like you do  
Like I'm something worth  
Holding to

There's times I think of leaving  
But it's something I'll never do  
'Cause you can do better than me  
But I can't do better than you

You can do better than me  
But I can't do better than you

"I'm sorry." She concluded, with an upwards glance. That song made more sense to her now than it had before.

Beck blinked with disbelief mixed with surprise as he looked up to meet Jade's upside down gaze. Her facial expression was unreadable as her blue- green eyes bore into his- as if she could suddenly see through his soul. It was very strange.

"Huh?" he mumbled out in question.

Sorry? Jade was sorry? What the hell is she sorry about?

"I'm sorry for not taking your word for things. I'm sorry that it seems like I don't care. But I do. I care a whole lot." She rambled off, "I'm sorry I didn't believe you at times when you say you love me, I'm sorry I didn't know about this… If I only I had cared more like you do and was confident that you do feel the same about me… You're just too good for me, Beck. You're too good for me."

After hearing this revelation, Beck got up from his sprawled out position on her lap with a narrowed eyebrow as he met her at equal eye level.

"Jade, look at me." He pleaded before she hesitantly met his gaze.

He took her hands in his and gave her a sincere smile, "Jade, don't you ever think you aren't good enough. You are. You're good enough to last me for all eternity. I love you. If I didn't love you, I'd tell you that straight up. But I love you so much it's crazy. It's crazy being with you but I love every second of it. Don't you forget that, okay?"

Jade beamed. Her beam was more genuine and more beautiful than any other beam or smile that Beck could've received in his whole lifetime. How could she say he didn't love her? He couldn't help but love her. Cheesy as it may seem, it was his destiny to love her.

"I love you, too."

All she needed was to say those three special words for Beck to move in closer to her. He just wanted to be near her for now. He wanted to hold her and never let her go.

From now on, she wouldn't be concerned about other girls. Yes, there may be some broken limbs if she finds one of those sickly blondes or Vega near her boyfriend. But from now on, she'd listen and be supportive just as he has listened to and assured her during her toughest times. And she would try to be somewhat as good to him as he is to her. She owed him that much at least. This was about the two of them. Together.

With a smile to seal off this pact, she leaned in towards her boyfriend's awaiting lips just as a jolt breaks their little moment. Jade forgets about the past second as she leaned back away from her boyfriend and angrily gives her surroundings a scowl as the elevator started making its usual beeping noises and moved downwards.

"Go figure." She retorted as she made an attempt to rise, "We should've tried making out first."

Beck laughed at her sarcastic remark before he grabbed the Goth by the waist and brought her back down to reinvent their last moment.


End file.
